The 4350water Blog highlights some of the issues relating to proposals for potable reuse in Toowoomba and South East Qld. 4350water blog looks at related political issues as well.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Anna Bligh backflip - Toowoomba now allowed access to excess Wivenhoe Dam water ...

Faced with growing opposition to their refusal to allow Toowoomba access to excess Wivenhoe Dam water, the Bligh government has quickly relented. Toowoomba will now be granted access to additional water beyond the current 10,000ML annual limit.

SEQ's Grid Twelve dams are now shown on the SEQ Water website as being 100% full. Bligh's refusal to allow Toowoomba access to this water meant that it would be released into the Brisbane river and out to sea.

Anna Bligh and her Minister for Natural Resources, Stephen Robertson, were caught in a morally indefensible position. After lauding the benefits of a water grid and the ability to shift water to where it was needed, they wouldn't allow Toowoomba access to additional water to provide for its water security - water which the Bligh government was going to pour down the drain.

Another monumental mistake from a deeply unpopular government.

The Bligh government's decision was ridiculed over the weekend in feedback comments on the Courier Mail website and business leaders had commenced calling for a review of this decision.

The backflip came quickly. Toowoomba will now be allowed access to excess Wivenhoe water.

No other decision was possible - if the Bligh government didn't want to spend the next month being criticised and ridiculed in the press.

And with the public float of QR National underway, the Bligh government can't afford any media distractions.

Excerpt from ToowoombaNews.com.au:

11 October 2010

Wivenhoe Overflow Tops Up Toowoomba

Toowoomba Regional Council has been given the go-ahead by the State Government to access additional water from the overflowing Wivenhoe Dam.

Council asked for more water beyond its initial requested allocation because our main storage, Cressbrook Dam, is under 25 per cent capacity.

Business leaders expressed dismay that the city may not have been able to take advantage of the extra water spilling out of Wivenhoe.

But Minister for Natural Resources Stephen Robertson announced today (October 11) that the extra water at current rates was a "common sense solution" for Toowoomba.

"Wivenhoe Dam is currently spilling around 24,000 megalitres a day. That will continue for the next few days," Mr Robertson said.

"One of the strengths of the South East Queensland Water Grid is that it enables us to move water around to where it is needed, and in this instance, we will make more available for Toowoomba," he said.
...

For the full story, see - ToowoombaNews.com.au - Wivenhoe Overflow Tops Up Toowoomba.

Also see - Brisbane Times - Kilcoy cut off by floods.

Also see - Courier Mail - Southeast Queensland dam levels to guarantee drinking water until 2021.

Also see - Courier Mail - Excess water from Wivenhoe Dam pumped along pipeline to Toowoomba's Cressbrook Dam.

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